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March 2021 Roundup - Read the Employer News

In this edition: CAAT Plan Valuation, Member Statements, My Pension update, PAL update, Employer attestations, June 30 retirements, Employer News feedback, Member presentations, Calendar of events.


Great news for your Plan members! The CAAT Plan stands at 119%

Based on the latest actuarial valuation as at January 1, 2021, the CAAT Pension Plan stands at 119% funded on a going-concern basis with a funding reserve of $3.3 billion.

This is great news for your plan members as it will allow for conditional benefit enhancements to be extended until 2024. The secure defined benefits that your members have earned is not affected by investment market fluctuations and our Plan remains strong.

Read more about Plan valuation on our website.


Retired and active member Annual Statements—coming soon!

This month, we’re preparing Annual Statements for active members and retired members and survivors. In the Statement, members will find the annual pension payment confirmation form and instructions on the various ways they can submit their confirmation.

In their Statement, retired members and survivors will find the annual pension payment confirmation form and instructions on the various ways they can submit their confirmation. These Statements will be mailed directly to members between March 29 to April 26.

We will start to deliver active member Statements for some employers in April.

  • Active Statements will be available on the portal for members who have access to My Pension
  • Anyone who did not elect to receive their communications electronically will receive a paper Statement in the mail

Over 13,000 members registered for My Pension

Read this if: your members have access to My Pension

It’s been two months since My Pension launched and members have been eager to use the portal to check and update their personal information, process transactions and get their personalized pension estimates.

To date, 13,000 members have registered for My Pension and have processed over 16,000 transactions.

With My Pension, members can access their Statement online

This month, we will be sending two emails to members to promote My Pension and remind them to activate their account. The emails will remind members what they can do on the portal, including access their Annual Statement online.

Please remind your members that they can get their Statements online through the new portal once they’ve activated their account.

If your members need assistance with My Pension, please advise them to call the member hotline.


Pension Administration Link (PAL) update: new functionality and information

Read this if: you have access to PAL

Since January 4, over 200 users have registered for PAL from 78 employers, and over 750 transactions have been processed from 46 employers.

On March 1, we made updates to PAL to address some of the feedback you provided to us on the portal. Your PA sent an email to you in early March with the details related to the update.

We will continue to provide enhancements to the portal and appreciate any feedback you may have. Remember, your Employer PA is only a call away to help guide you through the portal and answer any questions you may have.


Employer attestations are 67% complete

Read this if: your organization joined CAAT on or before January 1, 2020

The Employer Attestation of Administrative Compliance is an important part of ensuring that CAAT Pension Plan is administered in compliance with the Plan requirements.

We have already received 67% of the employer attestations. Thank you for sending your completed attestations to the Plan.

Please return your completed attestations by March 31, 2021.

If you have any questions on the attestation, please contact Sandy Cook at scook@caatpension.ca.


For June 30 retirements – send applications by end of March

Read this if: you’re in the Ontario College sector or expect a large amount of June 30 retirements

We recommend you send retirement applications three months in advance so pensions can start on time. For any June 30 retirements, we encourage you to submit your retirement applications by March 31.

If you’re an Ontario College employer and have a retiring member that wants to purchase a strike period, please make sure to let them know that they should have the payment completed at least two months before their retirement date to avoid their first payment being delayed.


We want your feedback on the monthly Employer News!

Your feedback is important to us, and we want to improve how we communicate with you.

Please take a few minutes to complete the Employer News survey by March 31.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on CAAT’s monthly Employer News.


New: monthly all-member webinars

Starting this month, we will be offering monthly webinars open to all members. We are offering Retirement Planning and Purchase webinars this month, and will expand to more topics in the future months.

If your members are looking to learn more about CAAT and their pension, and you don't currently have a webinar booked for your members, please direct them to the Attend a member presentation page on our website to register.


We are booking webinars for 2021!

To request a webinar for your employees on topics from plan overview, DBplus, pension purchases and retirement planning, contact presentations@caatpension.ca with your preferred date so we can secure it for you.


Upcoming Events

Block your calendar for the upcoming events:

  • March 31 – Signed employer attestations due
  • April 8 – Employer Education Session – Annual Statement Overview
  • April 20 – Employer Update
  • May 6 – Employer Education Session – In-Year Reporting – Terminations, Retirements and Deaths

You will receive an invitation for any webinars approximately two weeks in advance.